Postal Service: Brand New ColonyI’ve had this song for a while, but recently rediscovered The Postal Service. I really like their music. I love the sound and lyrics of this song… lemme know what u think.

I’ll be the grapes fermented,Bottled and served with the table set in my finest suitLike a perfect gentlemenI’ll be the fire escape that’s bolted to the ancient brickWhere you will sit and contemplate your day

I’ll be the waterwings that save you if you start drowningIn an open tab when your judgement’s on the brinkI’ll be the phonograph that plays your favoriteAlbums back as your lying there drifting off to sleep…I’ll be the platform shoes and undo what heredity’s done to you…You won’t have to strain to look into my eyesI’ll be your winter coat buttoned and zippedstraight to the throatWith the collar up so you won’t catch a cold

I want to take you far from the cynics int his townAnd kiss you on the mouthWe’ll cut out bodies free from the tethers of this scene,Start a brand new colonyWhere everything will change,We’ll give ourselves new names (identities erased)The sun will heat the groundsUnder our bare feet in this brand new colonyEverything will change, oOo oOo…

Spill it out on the ragged floorA thousand different versions of yourself

And if the old guards still offendThey got nothing left on which you dependSo enlist every ounce of your bright bloodAnd off with their heads, jump from the hookYou’re not obliged to swallow anything that you despiseSee, those unrepenting buzzards want your lifeAnd they got no right as sure as you have eyesThey got no right

Just put yourself in my new shoesAnd see that I do what I doBecause the old guards still offendThey got nothing left on which we dependSo enlist every ounce of your bright bloodAnd off with their heads, jump from the hookYou’re not obliged to swallow anything you despise

omg. those words… and the music…. wow! that’s all i can say. excuse the language in the post title, but it really is just a great fkn song. that’s all i can say. great fkn song. the kind of song that makes you want to stand in a beautiful and natural grassy field with your arms spread wide and just spin and watch the sky. here’s a link to a live video, and the music video, it’s the best i can do atm. listen to it and tell me what u think.

** Edit: Now you can listen to the song directly on my blog by clicking the song title (Sleeping Lessons) in the white box to the right here. Check it out! **

Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub;It is the center hole that makes it useful.Shape clay into a vessel;It is the space within that makes it useful.Cut doors and windows for a room;It is the holes which make it useful.Therefore profit comes from what is there;Usefulness from what is not there.

To talk little is natural.High winds do not last all morning.Heavy rain does not last all day.Why is this? Heaven and earth!IF heaven and earth cannot make things eternal,How is it possible for man?

He who follows the TaoIs at one with the Tao.He who is virtuousExperiences Virtue.He who loses the wayFeels lost.When you are at one with the Virtue,The Virtue is always there.When you are at one with loss,The loss is experienced willingly.

Because I’ve had a lot of change going on in my life recently, I thought it appropriate to summarize my recent experiences with a collection of quotes I’ve found, and comment on them.

“We take great pains to persuade others that we are happy than in to think so ourselves.” – Confucious

This quote is so true to how we all feel, I believe. Confucious has this way of touching the part of our persona we don’t let out much. He’s very right though, we go through these acts, with the world as our stage (Shakespearean, I know), playing our lives out, vying to convince the world that we are something we aren’t [always]. For once in my life though, I’ve convinced myself (though temporary it may be), that I am indeed happy.

Isn’t this the truth? It’s often the smallest decisions that make the biggest impact on our lives. These decisions are also, often, the decisions we spend more time acting on rather than thinking on. Aren’t we a genius species?!

“All of life is a journey which paths we take, what we look back on, and what we look forward to is up to us. We determine our destination, what kind of road we will take to get there, and how happy we are when we get there.” – Anonymous

I’d like to reference the Confucious quote here, because it’s pertinent to this particular quote as well. I’d also like to make note of the last phrase of this quote: We determine…how happy we are when we get there. It’s not the world that needs convincing of our happiness, it’s ourselves. Once you convince yourself that you are indeed happy, then the world will know, without your effort.

“The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one’s relationship has a growing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most wonderful of all things in life.”- Hugh Walpole, Sr.

Isn’t it wonderful to find another person in this world with whom your soul can agree? It’s such a rare occurrence, and one that you can never expect or plan for. This is most definitely the most wonderful of all things in life.

“Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.”– Marcus Tullius Cicero

True friendship is hard to find, but easy to keep. Once you find it, it’s like enlightenment, it is pure joy (which is the name of this post, in Simplified Chinese).

I hope that if you know me already, I’ve helped you find some joy, and if I ever meet you, that I can help spread the joy that has been endowed to me. I hope that I can choose to be as happy with life, as I am right now.